Shutdown Ends, Questions Remain

NATCA PRESS CLIPFrom The New York Times, Jan. 23:

"By Monday afternoon (Jan. 22), hundreds of thousands of federal employees across the country were left with a stinging case of shutdown whiplash as politicians in Washington declared that the government closure was over. For now. Maybe.

"In interviews, federal workers said they were worried they would find themselves back in the same position on Feb. 8, when the latest temporary compromise to fund the government expires.

“I’m not holding my breath,” said Paul M. Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, a labor union that represents 20,000 members, including 14,000 air traffic controllers. “You know and I know: Congress is not going to start working well tomorrow.”

Mr. Rinaldi said that every day the Federal Aviation Administration spends handling a shutdown hurts the agency’s ability to operate.

“You can’t do any long-term planning,” he said. “They’re all focused on shutdown procedures. Today, you have a whole F.A.A. that’s not working on anything that is modernizing our system. They’re all working on who’s exempt, who’s not exempt.”

Ask An Air Traffic Controller

The Voyage Report PodcastJanuary 2018

Following its “Ask the Captain” and “Ask a Flight Attendant” episodes, The Voyage Report host Mark Albert wanted to pose listeners’ questions to an active air traffic controller. So in this latest episode, San Juan Tower air traffic controller and NATCA FacRep Kyrandgel Rios explains his job, what it was like to ride out Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Irma in Puerto Rico while at work, how a typical flight works from an air traffic control perspective, and his top tips for travelers.

NATCA YouTube Channel

Following our 'Ask the Captain' and 'Ask a Flight Attendant' episodes, we wanted to pose your questions to an active air traffic controller. So in this episode, San Juan Tower controller Kyrandgel Rio...